


Garden Chatter

by karloaf



Category: Original Work
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/F, Lesbian, Modern Fantasy, Occult, Romance, Slow Burn, super natural - Freeform, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-19 13:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18136181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karloaf/pseuds/karloaf
Summary: A young vampire with no name but a number is learning to grapple with her new life while discovering she isn't the strangest thing in the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a sort of sequel to another, which is currently unpublished. It takes place roughly 8 or more years after the events of the unpublished work, Waiting for Seaside.
> 
> Excuse its roughness but this was written as an exercise. I'm here to have fun with an idea. Expect typos and the blandest writing ahead.

 

    

    Sometimes, 9 thinks very hard about the phrase, "Endings are just new beginnings." 

    She had a hollow laugh at it not too long ago, on the verge of tears, blood pooling in her eyes in a desolate house far away from the city. She peered out through the red haze over her vision at the warmth of a street lamp far down the country road and thought, This is it. That's the only kind of light I'm going to see until I die.

    Of course. Whenever that was. She'll have to just work with what she's got. The tears were over with months ago now and she had a new desperate life to live that didn't involve being under someone else's roof and making the same mistakes of her old vampire masters. She would be more careful with her fangs and that was a promise to herself. But not too careful-- vampires couldn't be, as it was their nature that 9 did not completely understand.

    Yet it was one that she now lived with. Her life consisted of, time to time, finding her next meal walking the street well into the night once the sun dipped below the horizon and good families locked their doors. She'd be out where those like her in life would gather-- young, pretty women with an ounce of concern for 9's nervous demeanor.

    "Hey girl, are you alright?" A woman would ask, putting a hand on her shoulder.

    "Not exactly... I'm feeling overwhelmed, I think... I don't know what to do," 9 would say, looking up but avoiding eye contact. She didn't want to be more awkward or catch a glimpse of her reflection in the eye of another. 

    "Oh, do you want to get out of here? I could walk you outside for a cab, or home if you're close," She'd say and offer a hand or an arm to 9.

    9 would take it, knowing full well that she was manipulating the women with her small gestures, the shy acknowledgement and the rhythm of her words she noticed when she could watch experienced vampires do it. 

    The rest progressed the same way each time. They'd go out and away from the location together with 9's prey leading the way, her eyes finally able to look upon the woman.

    "I don't like doing this," 9 would say, sometimes with a stutter.

    "It's okay," her prey would say, too deep into the charm to know that it was even happening.

    A turn into an alley-- one of four that 9 would choose-- and the deed would be done. Never intimately, always on an arm, and with a fresh box cutter blade for every instance.

    The prey wouldn't even know how they had gotten there, 9 hoped.

    She'd go home to her now-furnished-condemned-home that had a single room lit with a single battery powered lamp she'd pilfered from the hardware store to shine onto her tank of worms. She'd sit and prop her chin on her hands and talk to them like they were her only friends.

    "This isn't a living. I can't keep doing this. They're going to start asking questions... Someone will see. What am I going to do," she said to an especially long worm, stretched against the glass and pulling itself through the dirt.

    "I could try to go back," she continued, "Maybe I'd be better off like that. They could owe me for just turning me."

    It was then a night crawler slithered out of the dirt and pressed its nose into the glass at her. Its mouth looked like it was frowning.

    "Well, I don't know. Fine, I'll just lay low. Someone needs to take care of you all."

    And so the days rolled by while 9 waited and withered while watching her worms, and dropping leaves into the tank. She could see it in her reflection on the tank that she looked markedly older than she actually was. It was like seeing wrinkles on a teenager, she thought.

    "I think. I can go out again. With a different outfit," she whispered to the worms, dropping another wet leaf onto the worm loam. 

    They did not seem to disapprove and slinked downward away from the leaf's impact.

    "Then let's get ready for the night," said 9 rose from her seat, cracking out the kinks her in back and walked to the sink. She drew in a breath and turned the faucet and quickly let it go upon hearing the water flowing out. I must have won the house squatting lottery, was uttered whenever something still worked. Electricity, no, but who can say no to water? She peeled her clothes off  and reached for the sponge to her right, catching a glimpse of the night crawler who was back to judge her. 

    "Do I have to?" 9 asked loud enough to reach the other side of the room.

    The night crawler's muscles undulated against the glass.

    9 sighed and retrieved the tin basin and a portable gas stove. With the basin full, she heated it and scrubbed herself off. She could hear the night crawler approve with a thud as it fell off the glass. Yes, she'd at least feel warm for a a while went she went out. No one likes to feel like a corpse, the crawler would probably say if it could talk.

    And so the corpse-no-more, 9, got dressed in some of her cleaner clothes-- a sleeved red dress and a leather jacket she found in one of the closets in the house that was miraculously not moldy. She peered out of her room into the hall where the light was let in from outside and saw the colors shift to the cool blue of dusk. It was time and she'd better get moving if she wanted to do this with some lucidity and not some starving animal.

    She crept out and ran along the road for a while toward the city lights at a blistering speed, veering off into the woods when the cars could be heard. Care was taken to keep away from anything that might splatter. 

    She approached a different neighborhood this time, one in the more calm and modern spots. She saw a cafe with a few people still sat around. 

    This was practically a blind date with dinner and 9 would have to make the best of her awkwardness. She walked in and quickly looked around-- it was much more crowded than she initially thought. 

    "Double small latte, extra cinnamon," the barista called into the cafe while setting down a lidded cup, distinctly different from the white ceramic the rest of the patrons were drinking and eating out of.

    A figure  9 had seen a few times before stood up with her long coat, turned about to reveal a round dark face with sunglasses on framed with long wavy black hair. 9 leaned against the counter and squinted in confusion at just now seeing the glasses, until spying the red and white probing cane left at the seat. She walked over and was just a touch shorter than 9 herself once she was rather close. She cleared her throat.

    "Excuse me, I just need to get to the counter," the woman said with a certain kind of smoothness that sent a chill through 9, vaguely reminding her of the vampires. 

    "Yeah, sorry," 9 said, scuttling to the side.

    "It isn't a problem, I just need to," she said, pausing and running her fingers along the counter until discovering the paper cup, "feel where it is. Thanks." 

    "You-- I mean, no problem," 9 stumbled over her words, escaping from the bar hand-off and to the barista who had since gone to the register. She watched the woman go back to her seat with the same trajectory as she had taken.

    "Miss, can I help you with anything?" The barista said, forcing a smile onto their face. 

    "Yes, just black, small," 9 said, still looking over to the woman's seat and feeling through her pockets for the cash.

    "Hot or cold?" 

    "Hot-- very hot please," she said, taking out her thick cash clip, pushing a few dollars off and pausing before handing off the due payment.

    The barista looked 9 up and down, as if to confirm that the woman really counted her money and took the top two singles and bade her a good night. They went to get the coffee and set it down before 9 with a faint cough.

    9 was startled and finally looked at the counter with the Barista with folded arms and a ceramic cup with steaming black coffee. She nodded and took the coffee with her to the open cafe area, sipping it as she went to pretend she was looking for any empty seat in an already sparsely furnished space. She held the hot cup in her hands as much as possible, taking the warmth within herself and shivering. She swayed in a calculated sort of way as she did, for any that did look at her would note the rhythm she had while doing so. 

    She heard a couple of taps coming from her right, from the small-cinnamon-latte woman's table. 

    "You can take this seat if you'd like," the woman said, pushing her sunglasses up a little further.

    9 was still in her habitual habit of pausing before committing to an action.

    "My cane could always take it instead," she continued with a smirk.

    9 took the seat that was offered to her across from the woman quietly. 

    "So, unless you're blind like me, why did you dance in place knowing full well there's only one empty seat here?" The woman asked, not smirking as much but sounding like she was suppressing laughter. 

    "How did you know I wanted to sit?" 9 asked with heightened pitch, pulling her coffee closer and shrinking back and widening her eyes, "I'm normally not asked to sit with people."

    "I'm around here a lot, you know. I see you stop in, talk to someone, walk out, then disappear," she said, reaching for her cup and removing the lid, "Always someone different and you never stick around long, from what I can hear." 

    "Yes, outings and goings are--" 9 began.

    "Don't try it on me. It won't work," the woman interrupted, still sounding rather amused, "I need to see you to be completely charmed."

    9 began trembled in a mixture of social anxiety and the hunger tightening its grasp on her, shifting her seat back.

    "Come on, I'm not going to tell anyone. No one that would care too much, at least," she said, with a hand out stretched.

    9's breath shook as she shifted back and leaned in with her eyes fixed on the hand.   

    "You don't sound well," she said, reaching further and touching the cool skin of 9's wrist, "and you should wear longer sleeves or gloves. People like to grab that part of the arm and your coffee isn't going to warm it."

    "Hey, can you please not do that," 9 hissed, but did not recoil at the warmth she found on her, "I'm cold because I'm hungry and thought people would have forgotten about me by now. Please, don't talk about this too loud."

    "Well, tough, I haven't forgotten hearing you around here and the girls waking up forgetting about their nights. Vampires like you don't live long when they feed like this, you know," she ended in a whisper, withdrawing her hand from 9.

    "And I'm not exactly in a position to just get it whenever I want," 9 said, looking down into her coffee, returning her hands to the warmth of the cup. 

    "No coven to go back to?" 

    "I just left one, you know. They messed up and well," 9 trailed off, "Who are you anyway?"

    "Just call me Ankita," she said, tone shifting to crassness, "No offense, if you were a thrall, they sound fucking sloppy."

    "They were, but they were paying for everything," 9 sighed, "This is life for as long as I can make it last. I don't know what to do."

    Ankita hummed, sipping her latte, scowling at it, mumbling something about hating the taste of cinnamon and withdrew a reflective piece of what looked like glass from her pocket, laying it on the table next to her cup. 

    Words etched themselves along the surface and 9 looked on wide eyed at the object that Ankita was running her fingers over, then lifting her own glasses to reveal the whitened eyes leaned very close to the object. Words were scratched in return, 9 assumed, in whatever the hell that was.

    "Hey-- hey what is that?" 9 asked a little more loudly than she intended. 

    "Shh, You told me to keep it down. Do you seriously not know?" Ankita asked, incredulous. 

    "No, should I?" She fired back.

    "I thought you would have given your old employment but you must have been working in the occult equivalent of a shit hole. Listen, maybe I'm feeling a little kind today and maybe don't want to see things end horribly for you, but you can't keep feeding yourself like this," Ankita sighed, putting her glasses on and putting the glass-slab away.

    "Are you going to help me?" 9 whispered.

    "Yes because eventually someone's going to take a picture of you or already has," she said, taking a long sip and setting down an empty cup.

    9 stared at her as she drank.

    Ankita waited.

    "Oh, um. Sorry. Did someone really do that?" 9 stammered, looking around them.

    "Well, I don't know that. I can't see. Maybe someone's already started asking questions and I was looking for answers. Nothing they'll have to worry about if you get better about this," Ankita said, getting up.

    "Wait, you were following me?!" 9 exclaimed, standing up along with her.

    "Pot, kettle, you know how it goes. I do admit that I must have noticed you long before you noticed me," she said, waving her along as she crossed the cafe with her probing cane and was out the door.

    9 followed close behind, still in a tremor fit over the hunger, Ankita's demeanor, the way her blood moves under her skin. The pulse was maddening and 9 wanted to blame it on her own clumsiness that made her so hungry. I hope the help is her offering her own blood in supply, she thought, quickly shaking her head. It didn't help that she was experiencing the tunnel vision and couldn't see anything else but what she decided was the only source of blood in the world. 

    "Alright, just come in with me in here," Ankita said, reaching behind her and tugging 9 by the hem of her dress into the blinding whiteness of what looked like a clinic.

    "Are you bringing more dead people into the clinic now?" A shrill voice belonging to a small Russian woman behind the counter shouted at Ankita. 

    "Doctor Lavenda, she isn't dead. You should really invest in something that isn't fluorescent lights. We're here to buy," Ankita said while tapping the the base of the counter, "So we can both be done with the night and go home."

    The doctor squinted her eyes at 9 and shook her head, walking into the back where some fridge doors could be heard, along with beeps and typing.

    "...Thank you," 9 said, "But I can't help but mm ask why you're doing this."

    "Well, like I said. Someone was asking questions and wanted an answer. They heard I was pretty good at getting them and I will get paid for it," Ankita said, shrugging, "It's a sort of side gig of mine."

    "Who is it?!" 9 asked, taking Ankita by the shoulder and turning her about to face her. It ached to feel a pulse under her hand but she couldn't act out now. Not here, at least.

    "Not as timid as I thought you were," Ankita scoffed, pushing back with her cane. 

    "And you're smugly not answering the question," 9 growled, stepping back and avoiding looking anything but the remarkably white floor. 

    "You fed on someone's thrall one night. That's all I can tell you," Ankita sighed, "Told you it's a bad method." 

    Lavenda came out of the back with a blood bag in hand, setting it on her side of the counter as Ankita turned back to finish the transaction, leaning against the counter after she finishes and waves 9 over again. 

    9 approaches, taking the bag into her hands and leans down to it before hearing a tsk. She looks up.

    "Feed in the room over there," Lavenda said sternly, jabbing a thumb to the left.

    9 looked between the two of them, Ankita meeting her with a shrug and Lavenda looking at her like she was some kind of unwanted pest. She departed, the quiet lobby and was in another room that looked like a break room.

    There was a long table with a tray, a stack of clear plastic cups, scissors, and a bio-waste container at the end of the table with several discarded bags in it. 9 cut the pouch and drank-- like a normal drink, the refrigerated blood in the awfully quiet room. She felt herself come back and could breathe normally again. She looked down at the stained cup and thought, How clinical and impersonal. She sat for a while, feeling her skin reconstitute itself. This night was guilt-free. Yet, there was something missing from the experience. 

    9 discarded the bag and cup. She would not be barbaric about this. 

    She exited into the lobby. Ankita had already departed.

    There was something missing from this experience. 


	2. Chapter 2

    9 returned to her worms outside the city with a little story to tell. 

    "Okay, so I kind of got caught this time," she said to the tank, where the worms squirmed without interest until she dropped in some wet apple shavings.

    "But," she continued, "It wasn't all too bad. I think I started to get bad after I ran into the blind lady-- Ankita, I think she said her name was. She was weird and had some kind of magic rock I never saw before... She showed me where to get blood and it wasn't some seedy place. You know, though, I thought, just for a second, that she'd just let me have it there. God that sounds wrong."

    As it did sound, her infamous night crawler peeked its head out from the leaves and inched toward her in a judgmental manner, possibly toward the fangs that had shown themselves.

    "You know what I meant! God, we went to a clinic and it was easy and everything but there was something so weird about it. The blood was cold and like, of course it is. It's in a fridge and it tastes flat and all. Ugh," she grunted and threw her hands up, "My point is that still isn't sustainable. Not like this terrarium I built for you because I sure don't have a job and I'm coasting on left over cash I pulled out of the vampire's house."

    The crawler suddenly thrashed and curved. There were baby isopods crawling over it toward the moisture.

    "Like, getting another job would fix that but do you know how hard that is with not being able to show up anywhere in the day time? You hear me say this all the time but this fucking sucks," she said, leaning back in her seat.

    The crawler withdrew into the dirt, leaving the visible surface to the tiny terrestrial isopods. 

    9 knew something had to be eventually done about the growing risk of her lifestyle. Who has any need for a micro-gardener who can't even work in the daylight? Maybe it was that she knew little of this other world of strange people beyond vampires. A whole hidden society that could have opportunity but where does one look?

    She looked back into the tank and noted the same tunnels that the worms had dug were built over and over but she would always see worms crossing it no matter what.

    "I could. Just go back and see who I meet, I suppose," she mumbled, getting her clothes back on. She'd do the usual tank maintenance, turning the soil over, filling the spray bottle, spraying the soil, going to gather more waste in the cool evening. It was always so quiet. The road was hardly maintained coming down this way but 9 knew that eventually, some bank would be up to sell the property and 9 would have to leave. The house would likely be demolished and any evidence of her being there would be gone with it. Another thing for 9 to worry about. Her poor silent friends couldn't be with her forever and she won't be here forever with them. She ran back inside. 

    Dawn would come soon and so it was almost time to rest. 9 tossed about in her cocoon of sheets, dreaming through the day about the sun she couldn't see and the times she was not starved for friends, let alone held. She shot awake, sucking in a deep breath and could see, even from her closed door, the light was still spilling in from the day. 

    Thinking she was still in a dream, she had rose and opened the door. All it took was a stray beam of light to sear her arm. Crying out, she slammed the door shut and rushed to the sink to run water over the wound. It began to stitch itself shut but would not completely. 

    "God, god, fuck, that hurts holy shit! Close, please close," 9 pleaded at her wound, though, to no avail. 

    After enough waiting, it became clear that it would not shut. Another trip to the clinic, it seems. Or a feeding. It wouldn't happen with with someone's kindness, of which 9 was certain. She wrapped her arm in a scarf without concern for circulation, laying back in the sheet mound, watching the door's light fade with great intensity. 

    When orange went to blue, 9 rose once more and donned a simpler outfit. She looked herself, mostly. The red dress would be put away, and the slightly-too-big olive jacket was on to cover her arm. She was out into the night blue where she took her usual route back to civilization and to the clinic that she would have to approach casually.

    Just as the night before, Dr. Lavenda stood at the counter, scrolling through her phone and looked up at 9 slowly, sighing and setting it down. 

    "Hello, you are back," Lavenda began, "for the blood, yes?"

    "Yeah, I am," 9 said, pulling out the cash clip.

    "Okay, how many, then? Are you going to need a case?" Lavenda said impatiently while looking down and beginning to type.

    "Just-- just one," said 9.

    "Sure you don't want to pay for more to keep at home so you don't need to come here all the time?" Lavenda asked, still in a hurry to get 9 out the door.

    "Nowhere to put it. Long story. Just one," 9 repeated. 

    Lavenda wordlessly nodded and put a finger up to signal a wait as she disappeared to the back room for a few moments to go through the motions of bringing back 9's blood bag, holding it a hand while doing another round of what must have been data entry. She shot 9 stray looks before setting the bag down on the ledge under the counter.

    "So, before I vend this, you need to give me a little information," Lavenda said, blinking slowly and and cocking her head to the left with the most prepared look for disappointment.

    "Okay, like a name? Will 9 be okay? I... kind of can't do better than that," said 9, eyes drifting down.

    "Why not? You know this isn't some black market business," said Lavenda without any hint of irony, "Paperwork is part of that."

    "I literally cannot give you anything more than 9 for a name. I mean, I can give an address, uh, a picture," 9 rambled, patting her cash clip, "I can't even personally keep or show anyone an ID that's actually mine." 

    "You know what. Fine. You came in here with Keet, I'll let this slide for now unless she says you're really okay. I understand. People with their words taken from them and not all vampires can get fancy connections or work in a hospital at night," Lavenda said with a shrug, "And don't take it personally. They're not the only ones who come in here for it. Now, paperwork time and don't make this hard."

    The process wasn't unlike the DMV, save for it going by a lot faster given the lenience provided by Dr. Lavenda, a name that certainly sounded fake to 9. The pen felt like it was being drained faster than the blood bag was going to be as 9 scratched in what few details she could give. Then a shitty picture was taken with the oppressive fluorescent lights above. It didn't matter that 9 was fed recently, she still looked awful in it. 

    "There you go. Official and you'll be less suspicious when you come back next time. Maybe. That will be on you to set up," Lavenda said, putting the bag on the counter with her hand still on it.

    "Sure. I mean. I'll work on it, I promise," 9 replied, putting the cash down.

    The bag was released and 9 slowly took it and escaped to the feeding room. Everything was as it was left. 

    She poured her cup. The liquid was dark and cold. 9 felt her arm fixing itself and the fresh blood circulating and it was so cold. What she would give to feel warmth again! Her thoughts drifted back to when she could just go out and get someone to guide them to a secluded alley where she'd get to work. Feeding on them the way her former masters would felt too intimate for her. She fantasized about it but couldn't do it. Always punctured away from the neck, the shoulder, the arm, but not where she had been fed on. She would fool herself into thinking it was in some kind of self righteous refusal to accidentally turn someone but in reality it was the fear of closeness. The shameful intimacy of it. 

    She hated that she had a clearer picture since the other night and hated herself for it. 

    She began to hate that she'd have to get close to her again for the sake of staying alive. 

    


	3. Chapter 3

    She swears her life is somehow a terrible comedy. It was bad, seeing that she had to return to her "usual" spots with a completely different intention. 

    This was not a matter of just feeding to 9, so she might not starve but to preserve herself in a sensible fashion. She wasn't old and dead to the world yet, so there might be time to separate from the old vampires. She hoped they would die, if they were as messy as Ankita said they were, and maybe she could take that house instead. She could return to tending to a garden without worry of attracting attention. She could live in some capacity and she could maybe have her name back and maybe feel a little less empty. 

    9 found herself in front of the cafe. The workers were cleaning up inside and the crowd had thinned to a few people, all of whom where gathering their things to leave. In the spot that she had sat previous, a dark pair of glasses pulled the red and white cane taut. She headed to the door to meet Ankita there, who stopped and looked up at 9.   

    "Fancy meeting you here, 9," said Ankita, without the playful smirk she wore the first time.

    "How did you know it was me?" asked 9, looking around her once more.

    "You smell like iron. Guessing you visited Dr. Lavenda. And maybe I just had a feeling," Ankita said with amusement returning to her, but was quick to drop it, "You're here later than usual. "

    "Well, I went to drink somewhere else-- again there's still people around," 9 hissed at the blind woman's need to brazenly point out where 9 has been.

    "Trust me, they don't know anything. Just me. Now, you'll have to get out of my way since they're closing up," Ankita said, poking 9's shoe with the cane. 

    "Sorry, yeah, another time, or I'll just," 9 stumbled to the side, letting her pass.

    "I didn't say anything about leaving. You obviously came here looking for me, didn't you?" Ankita said, stopped in front of 9.

    "Um," 9 mumbled.

    "Look, I'm basically alone when I walk home anyway," she said, collapsing the cane again.

    "So can we--" 

    "Yes, I'm asking you to walk and say what you wanted to say, provided you don't try to mess with me while my cane's away," Ankita interrupted.

    "Okay, I'll uh, tell you where we are then while we walk," 9 said.

    "I walk this way all the time; I'll know where we are but thank you," she said, sighing and continuing down the street, "But you could stand closer to me so I don't run into anyone."

    9 jogged up to Ankita as she walked, taking a moment to realize that she was indeed being invited to walk along side her. 

    "So, 9, what is it?" Ankita said, walking closer to the buildings.

    "The clinic. Um, Dr. Lavenda made a 'temporary allowance' on me but said I uh needed you to say I'm really alright to sell to," 9 said, realizing that talking casually has not gotten easier.

    "So you need a referral to go buy blood on your own," she said.

    "Yes, that, sorry I'm sorta nervous," 9 said.   

    "Hm, why?"

    "You know, what if I sound ridiculous and you tell me to go away," 9 muttered.

    "I didn't say no yet," said Ankita, "But let's say I said yes. It'd be pretty easy to just send a message to Dr. Lavenda."

    "Yes, but? Why the but?" 9 asked.

    "I'm just curious first. Before I do more than I already have, I just wanted to know a bit more about you, if you would indulge me," Ankita said.

    "Sure. The biggest secret about me is already out and I don't have much of a choice," 9 said.

    "Arguably-- No, right. So, what do you do? How do you manage in the city?" Ankita asked while stopped at the curb, a car passing through the intersection.

    "I used to um, garden. Now I just have a terrarium. As for the city, I don't live here. Just, away from everyone. I don't even have neighbors," 9 said, looking up the street at the passing cars.

    "That's smart. Especially given how you were feeding yourself before. So, you were a gardener by trade... interesting," Ankita hummed, taking off her glasses.   

    "Well, I kind of picked it up after the ahem vampires took me in. I was interested in science and stuff before my parents died," 9 said, watching Ankita and studying her face; the indents left by the glasses on the bridge of her pronounced nose, the starburst of white within her eyes, the smooth, round, flushed cheeks full of--

    "Hello?" Ankita said, bumping into 9.

    "Huh?" 9 blinked.

    "I said I'm sorry for your loss, but you weren't responding," Ankita said, tugging 9 by the sleeve twice before moving as the last car came to a stop, "Sounded like you were young when that happened. What of... your name? Don't tell me that's what you gave to Dr. Lavenda."

    "It... is the only name I can use," 9 said while following, trying to keep up her pace.

    "Hm. How old were you when they took it?" Ankita asked.

    "I was eighteen and clueless," 9 said.

    "Just the age for everything terrible to happen. I can sympathize," Ankita said slowing down slightly.

    "Can I ask a personal question?" asked 9, slowing to meet her pace.

    "I'd rather not, but I opened myself up for that one, didn't I?" Ankita said back at her.

    "Did you go... No, nevermind, that's a stupid thing to ask," 9 waved the incomplete question out of the air.

    "Good, I was hoping you wouldn't finish asking that. You'd never know how often I get asked what I thought you were going to ask," Ankita said, "Though it isn't the most surprising thing you could have asked. So, you're pretty far from here and you'd walk me home. How nice, even if you just want my referral." 

    "Well, I. I don't get to talk much with others, given that I've tried to fall off the face of the earth and kinda... regret it," 9 said, "It's not all about the blood."

    They came to a stop in front of what looked like a building of antiquity with lit candles in the windows and rows of books lining the vast interior of the building. A library, 9 though, was a curious place to stop in front of. 

    "Flattering. Sorry, that sounded dismissive. Really, I'm hard to tolerate if you try to get to know me. I'll tell Dr. Lavenda that you managed to walk me home  without trying to tear my neck open," Ankita said, touching 9's arm to orient herself in front of her and winking, "I hope I'm facing you in the right direction."

    9 stood there for a while longer, stupidly silent.

    "I'll take that as a good night," Ankita said, letting go and walking into the library.

    9 rubbed the arm that was touched. It still felt sore from the burn earlier. But, now it didn't hurt as much, dulled by the sensation of making faux-eye contact with someone for the first time in a while.


	4. Chapter 4

    In the day, 9 dreamed of her life in abstract pieces and sensations, where her wishes felt like they were made real before crumbling down to a singular thing. She ended up in a perfect void where she could see the perfect nothingness and feel warmth cascading down from her mouth. To her, after being cold for so long, the one thing she hated being without was the warmth. In blood or in an embrace, she thought, either would be nice but do I really deserve the latter? 

    She felt a weight in her arms, and looked down. She was suddenly knelt and Ankita was there with her eyes slowly opening to reveal her eyes, lacking the cataracts and full of color. She raised a hand to her blood soaked neck, putting the blooded hand between them.

    "Interesting," Ankita muttered with a smile, "You look good in red."

    9 let go and shot up, awake in her dark room. She felt the wetness on her sheets and rose, stumbling over to the mirror set up beside the sink, where blood was blotted around her eyes. Shameful, bloody tears that would have to be washed off with the freezing water. It came off slowly and she would have to catch glimpses of herself in the mirror. What is it that she wanted? Did she want to destroy something potentially good? Was it always getting to the next baton pass only to crack the successor over the head with it? 

    She hadn't spoke but the worms knew, as they writhed on the surface of the dirt. The audible mass called out to 9 and she turned to them. They looked as she thought-- just a mass of things but they were reaching with mouths agape for loam that was not there. 

    "Oh, bullshit, what do you know about what I'm thinking? You just want your leaves," 9 said while pushing away from the sink, "Or maybe leaves aren't good enough now..."

    She waited as she did for night, dressed in her long coat and dress. She went to the city while the sky was skill pink. 9 felt like she was under a hot summer sun all the while as she ran in. She would obtain flowers and pots. Dirt. And something she has not done since she was fangless; a cab to take it back, against her better judgement as the whole trip ran up the tab to an uncomfortable amount. 

    She was dropped off at the closest serviced road, to which the cab driver looked on with confusion as they drove off. 9 would take each piece of the garden set back to her ruin of a house. She tore the windows open and put the pots down wherever she thought the sun would shine. Before potting the assorted flower bushes, she retrieved the worm tank, where they still undulated atop the soil, and would pour out with the moist earth like batter into each of the pots. 

    "We have needs we can't ignore, my friends," 9 whispered, loosening the soil at the roots of the infant hydrangea, "I'm sorry for not thinking of you all... You will be able to see the sun on the plants for me." 

    She looked up at the sky, clocking that she still had some time left in the night. She watered the plants and departed once more to the city, moving at breakneck speed to the clinic. She sighed, checking the cash clip again at the door, just stopping short of the door sensor detecting her. Lavenda looked up at her briefly, gesturing a small wave from her desk before looking back down at what she was doing. It was always odd, seeing just the single doctor behind the counter doing everything. Or, incidentally, 9 always arrived when Lavenda should be at the front because they were short on staff. So she assumed.

    But, 9 knew she needed to be elsewhere. She took off to the cafe to find it full but not with Ankita amidst the crowd. She paced about a few times, looking in through different angles, just to be sure. She sighed, staring down the street where they had walked not too long ago. Retracing her steps, she found herself in front of the library with its candle-lit windows and rows of books. She took a deep breath and ventured in. 

    The interior was quiet as expected and there was a woman with a head of blonde hair lounged in the chair at the front desk, with books piled high on either side. She was dressed in a similarly long coat to 9's own but was hemmed with feathers, reminiscent of some artist's take on a faerie prince. She didn't look up as 9 approached the desk.

    "Excuse me," 9 asked quietly.

    "Excuse yourself," the woman said jabbed, sitting up and turning her steely gaze to 9, "Just kidding, of course. How can I help you?"

    "I... I'm looking for Ankita. If she's here, that is," 9 answered with a certain kind of slowness, caused by a familiar force she used to feel in the vampire house. 

    Though, this was not like theirs. This was different and it was cocky. The whole library feels off, like she stepped into a world very unlike her own.

    "Yeah, she's up on the top floor sorting the books and stuff. But don't let her know I said she was there," The woman swayed in her seat, eyeing up and down, "And uh, sun up's in eight hours."

    "How did you know?" 9 said, stumbling back.

    "I got intuition. You seem new around here, too. And, like, you're not the only one who comes in here and I saw you outside the other night. I could feel it from here," she said, "Now. Upstairs. Thanks for listening."

    9 grimaced at the woman as she returned back to relaxing in her chair. Some manners the front desk has for someone who looks so lazy.  Never mind that, she thought, there were stairs to climb to get to the top. The steep steps were not a challenge for 9 but she had kept her pace "human" as she traveled up them, no matter how strange the visitors of the library may have been. 

    The floors were less populated toward the top, and more strangeness was present, from skulls of strange large beasts hung from the ceiling, to the hushed whispers of patrons betwixt the book cases. At the very top floor, from the stairs, 9 was greeted with the sight of a beautiful mural of the stars and different great beasts in it. Far down one of the aisles, the sound of pages echoed out of them. She peered down at the source of the sound and saw Ankita far away, putting books back onto the shelf. 

    Ankita looked right at 9. 

    9 froze in place.

    "Well, are you just going to stand there?" Ankita spoke from her end of the aisle, the sound traveling seamlessly down the aisle.

    "I was just taking my time," 9 said, approaching her, "You weren't at the cafe tonight." 

    "You normally don't go to the same spots, and sometimes I'm back here," Ankita said, continuing her sorting, seemingly taking quick looks at the books.

    "Okay, fair. Should I leave you alone? I wasn't sure if you'd be free," 9 said.

    "Mm. Well, not exactly but this isn't really intense work," she said, looking at another book. 

    "Um, are you looking at those books?" 9 asked, stepping closer. 

    "Yes, I am," she returned, "Oh."

    "I thought you were blind!" 9 exclaimed.

    "I am blind but before I talk about that, did you seriously never have contact with any kind of craft?" Ankita said, closing the book and placing it on the shelf.

    "No, is that something I should know? Is it like your not-cellphone?" 9 asked again.

    "...Sure. It's probably better to just call it magic. I'm using magic to see for work," Ankita said bluntly.

    "That's. Actually incredible," 9 uttered. 

    "You look good in red, by the way," Ankita commented.

    9 stumbled back away, eyes widening for a moment.

    "Is there something wrong? Don't tell me you're superstitious, you lived with vampires--" Ankita said, with an amused smirk.

    "It's not that. It's nothing. I thought I forgot something at home," 9 said, waving her hands to clear the air.

    "Uh-huh. So, is there something you need to ask or..." Ankita trailed off.

    "Not in the burning question kind of way, I just. Though I'd come out more and talk," 9 said.   

    "And I'm the only qualified candidate for that? Not that I'm really complaining," Ankita said.

    "It's easier to be around someone who just knows about what you are," 9 said.

    "You think so? I guess it works better for you in that sense," Ankita said while pushing the empty book car to the end of the aisle. 

    "What is that supposed to mean?" asked 9.

    "I mean, someone knows I'm blind and does all sorts of stuff that isn't always the nicest," Ankita said.

    "Oh, sorry I thought you meant something else," 9 said.

    "You know, it's funny when I get to finally see someone, it's like I get to meet them all over again. There's so much to look at and memorize. It's nice to see you, 9," she said with returning amusement. 

    "Huh, it looked like you already knew it was me when I showed up," 9 said while leaning against the book case. If they were going to do this, she would give her something to look at. 

    "Mm What was that?" she asked.

    "You looked right at me and we just kinda stared," 9 said, looking to her right at the books, "It caught me off guard, is all."

    The tomes all sounded like something 9 would have seen in some kind of fantasy book, but were very clearly written as serious texts. Ankita let her hand rest upon her chin, looking at the books again as well. 

    "Are you interested in looking for something?" She asked.

    9 thought of the possibilities, that maybe, since magic is clearly very real and vampirism is one of the very-basic-normal-things that happen-- what else could Ankita do?

    "You know what, actually, I do need something. I started my own little garden again and need to look into some botany," 9 said, resisting all urges to point out the coincidence of what Ankita said, dream or not. 


	5. Chapter 5

   9 got her botanical guides. Or at least, was taken to the section that had it, crossed over with the alchemy books. It was useful for the new project, to know exactly how much water to add, if the positioning was optimal. Whether or not she really makes it her new life, she would at least like to have made something beautiful for herself.

    "I was going to wait to talk about this but I feel like it is best if I am transparent about it," Ankita spoke, writing out the register of books for 9.

    "What is it?" 9 asked.

    "It was something I needed to tell you but I have to do it later," Ankita whispered, running her fingers through her hair.

    "Pull me in and throw me out. I see," 9 said while humoring her, "But when will you be able to tell me?"

    "You will know. In fact, I will contact you," Ankita said, holding her hand out, "May I see your hand for a moment?"

    9 hesitantly put her hand into Ankita's, who proceeded to tug her closer. She felt the woman's thumbs trace along the creases of her palm and around the back of the hand, taking note that after a bit, she seemed to linger. 9 did not make a move to withdraw her hand-- the warmth felt heavy on her and she wasn't something she got to feel often. She felt an opportunity and studied Ankita's face again, finding that she possessed benign scarring around her eyes and closed piercings on her brow. But her face-- her face was stuck in a state of what almost looked like worry.

    "Through this, I've found you have soft hands for a gardener and your life line says you'll have a long one," Ankita smirked, breaking out of her worry.

    "You wanted to read my palm?" 9 asked, brows raising as she squinted.

    "I'm bullshitting you. Again, you'll know why later," Ankita said, finally letting go, "So, gardening in the night. Really, good luck. Maybe you'll get to show me the fruits of your labor--"

    "Mom, where are the cookies?" A faint but young voice-- like a child's, called from a few rows over.   

    "Well, maybe I could show you the flowers," 9 said, averting her eyes once again.

    "Yes, I'm sure-- Listen, you have to go now. I'll reach out to you and don't worry about how," Ankita said, hurrying 9 along to the stairs.

    "One more question, before I go?" 9 said, a few steps down already.

    "No," Ankita said, waving her off, "Later."

    9 frowned playfully, continuing down the stairs and out onto the street; carrying the books would be cumbersome and difficult to run with. She took off her jacket and created a makeshift bag to put them in, earning a strange look from the front desk woman who was smoking outside. They gave each other a look, the desk keeper's one of confusion and 9 one of amusement before taking off into the night.

    9 returned to her home away from the city, standing outside, hearing something from within her home other than the slithering of the worms and the skittering of the isopods. She approached slowly, seeing that a furry animal had broken in through the door left ajar. A raccoon it seemed, with something in its hands. As she approached, she saw the writhing end of the night crawler in the raccoon's hand.

    9 shouted at the raccoon, for whom it was already too late as she flew at the small creature, tearing into its flee bitten skin with her fangs and drinking it dry. The taste was rancid but it was the first instinct that seemed to come to mind for 9. She tossed the carcass out into the field for nature to reclaim it and turned to what was left of the largest night crawler and it certainly was not much. She gingerly picked it up and set it back onto the soft soil in one of the pots, where a hole had been dug out by the raccoon. She sighed, pushing the loose dirt over the crawler and the hole.

    "Sorry I took so long," 9 whispered, climbing the stairs to her room.

    She went and set the books down on the table that the worms occupied previously. The door was shut tightly behind her and she laid down in her sheet mound. It wasn't the first time she's lost a worm. There have been many, she told herself, and many more. It's possible for them to recover from freak accidents and so they would. She slept with that thought and was quickly at peace with the evening.

    The dream began again as usual, though she was in her old room in the Vampire house. It must have been the moment she woke up and everything changed, she thought, hearing the yelling a room over.

    You just take, take! And look! You just killed one of our gifts to you! You're so fucking useless, Riley!

    Ah, yes. She was believed to have been dead. But there wasn't a moment she felt more alive with the desire to feed creeping up ever so suddenly. Parched mouth, ravenous hunger that felt like it'd eat her from the inside. The scenery shifted into blackness again and she felt the blood on her lips, eyes widening as she felt the realness of the sensation. It was too familiar. She looked down .

    "So, first thing, don't wake up," Ankita's familiar voice said while looking back up at 9, eyes full of color and drenched at the neck in her own ethereal blood.

    "I'm-- I'm sorry I didn't mean to," 9 trembled as the apology rolled out, attempting to withdraw.

    "You really want to drink my blood that badly, huh," Ankita said with a chuckle, getting up out of 9's lap and wiping away the blood, leaving no trace of it behind.

    "I know, it's not like I really want to do that, but," 9 rambled, rising after Ankita, and wringling her hands.

    Ankita raised an eye brow.

    9 shut up.    

    "Anyway, the memory, I got to hear some of it. The name, Riley, was familiar. I thought I heard it once before," Ankita said.

    "Wait, so you were really here last time? Oh my god that explains everything," 9 gasped. 

    "Yes, and it isn't something I think I have enough time to explain. Entering one's dream as I happen to do it is unique to someone like me. It's rendered me a bit... different. I think drinking my blood would be a pretty unpleasant experience," Ankita said, pondering the last point, "Back to what I needed to tell you. Riley. That's the name of who contracted me to find out who fed on the thrall."

    9 blinked a few times, sitting down on the floor. 

    "I didn't tell them who you were," Ankita sighed. 

    "But they're looking for me, then," 9 muttered, "Did they say they were looking for me?"

    "They did the second time I was approached. I declined, on the grounds that I have a few things to catch up on in my own life," she paused before continuing, "Of course, they know that's not completely the case. I only confirmed that it was a vampire but not which."

    "Oh, good. But that means they'll just get someone else to find me--" 9 found herself pausing too, eyes going wide again.

    "What is it?" Ankita asked.

    "My door was open when I came home. Someone must have stopped in," 9 looked around her in the darkness, the first floor of the house materializing with all of the plants bathed in the cool moonlight from the door left ajar. The drained raccoon was visible from the front door.

    "It certainly looks like it. I don't like how this looks," Ankita said as she inspected the door before closing it and returning to 9's side, offering her hand.

    "Thank you; yeah I just thought the raccoon got in here because I was careless, but I was careless because I didn't think about it hard enough," 9 said, taking the woman's hand, looking up into her eyes, illuminated by the moonlight. She felt slack as she pulled herself up, made useless by the sight of someone she realized she found beautiful. 

    "It's over with now. Think of what you'll do next," Ankita said, breaking eye contact, "A shame that this lined up with you making a new garden... Do you have any idea what it would look like in the daylight?"

    "It'd be impossible for me to know without somehow getting a camera," 9 replied.

    "Well, let me assist you," Ankita said, and the lighting shifted, like the sky was put into a timelapse and the sun rose. 

    9 tightened with apprehension as the sky changed to a warm pink and the sun rose over the trees. But no pain came, and the house garden was illuminated. The worms had still been out, slithering along in the dirt. They were stood around the colorful display of the variety garden and it was in the light that 9 was sure she would never feel again. Yet here she was feeling the normal warmth of the sun with the cool morning dew to accompany it. 

    "This is... really nice. Thank you," 9 said, "Do you like the flowers?" 

    "They're quite nice. Would it be rude to say some of my motivation for coming here was to see the flowers?" Ankita asked. 

    "No, I'm actually pleased. Most wouldn't really care that much, so I guess I feel a little appreciated," 9 said, smiling a little.

    "So you can smile. Not to sound like a weird old man, but you look nice when you do," Ankita said, returning the expression.

    "The same goes for you, but you seem to do it more than I do," 9 said.

    "Hasn't always been like that, but I've learned to lighten up a bit," Ankita said.

    "God I wish that were me," 9 exclaimed.

    "Let me know if you do so I could wear my eyes more often," Ankita said with a wink. 

    "...So could I asked you about that again?" 9 asked.

    "About my blindness?" she said.

    "Was that what happened when you were eighteen?" 

    "That and a lot of other stuff. But I'll give you that if you'll stop asking me about my eyes," Ankita said, "I could tell you more, in the future maybe. But for now, I think there's more important things to discuss when you come by again."

    "You sound sure," 9 said.

    "I am. Or you could ignore my invitation to talk more," she said. 

    "N-no, I'll be back tomorrow night," 9 said.

    "Good. I don't want to wait," she said before fading out of the dream. 

    9 stood around her house bathed in daylight and admired it for the time she had left in her sleep. She could do for a visit here in her dreams, she thought.


	6. Chapter 6

   It didn't get dark until 8:30pm during those days. It made for a frustrating wait for 9 as she just wanted to get out there and water her plants.

    She was sat around with her wash basin that she filled with cold water which was not so cold now. She had just finished checking the desks to see if anything was disturbed from the night before. No details of meddling betrayed themselves but 9 was still on guard for it happening again, contemplating getting a lock.

    Right. Locks require funds that 9 felt she could not spare, specifically (and freely) locked away behind the divide labeled "blood" in her budget in her mind. The reality of her situation was too harsh, and so she went out into the pink tinted halls of barely sundown to get to watering, even if it felt like a building on fire. She would drink tonight anyway, she reminded herself, carefully pouring water over the pots to make sure the respective plants and her worm friends were not drowned.

    "Try not to get eaten tonight, friends. I have to go out once more and I don't know if I'll be back tonight," she addressed the pots. None of the worms were out but she supposed it was a bit early. The most brazen of them did suffer some grievous injuries so she couldn't blame them.

    9 returned to the city to the library, seeking Ankita without stopping at the front desk where the faerie-prince looking lady was perched, and ascended up the stairs with expedience. She felt... excited, she was sure, to see her again. She scanned the book aisles, but hadn't seen her. She paced a few times and was sure now that she must have been out. She turned around just as she heard a few small steps running up to her.

    9 jumped when she felt the wind of the small person running up to her, whipping around to see a young girl with brown skin and wavy hair, who couldn't have been more than eight, standing there with the magic glass that she saw Ankita using during their first meeting.

    "Were you looking for Ankita? I think I saw you before... I don't know if my mom did but you were talking to her," the little girl unloaded on to her.

    "Uh. Is Ankita your mom?" 9 asked, still stumbling back from the girl who was standing way too close to her.

    "Yes, but um. Who are you? No wait, don't tell me... you're 9 right?" The small girl asked back.

    "Um, I'm 9. Yes that's me," 9 breathed, shaking her head, "How uh, rude of me. I should have asked your name."

    "Oh, I'm Letetra, but everyone just calls me Tetra. There's a lot of people with L names so it's less confusing that way. Sooo, did you want me to text my mom?" Tetra rocked on her heels with the glass in hand, looking at 9 expectantly.

    "Okay, can you do that for me?" 9 felt like this was not going to be a simple request.

    "I could! But! You need to do something for me first," Tetra said with a little knowing smile, like she had a surprise for 9.

    "Alright, Tetra. What do you need from me?" 9 felt herself pushing a smile onto her face.

    "You have to get me cookies. That way I'll know if you're good," Tetra smiled and laughed while still wiggling in place.

    "Well, that sounds just fine. I'll know if you're good if you tell her I'm around, okay? Now, that sounds easy so I'll just be right back," 9 said, keeping up her barely passable smile as she retreated from the small child, heading for the stairs.

    "I'm timing you, by the way! You have-to come back in ten minutes!" Tetra yelled from her spot amidst the books.

    9 cringed her shoulders and took a deep breath. Children were lucky they were so cute, 9 thought, keeping her quick-but-decent pace down the stairs and out the door to the nearest corner store. She felt like her soul was being taken for death as she bought a pack of chocolate chip cookies that felt too expensive.

   It was another reason to loathe the city.

    She ran back to the library up to the top floor, despite being yelled at for the rush of air that had tousled the front desk woman's hair. 9 short-stopped before Tetra, who looked very pleased and made grabbing motions at the pack of cookies. 9 drew the pack back while voicing her request.

    "No, no, we had a deal. Text mom," 9 said with a genuinely playful smile.

    "Hmph. Okaaay," Tetra said, hurriedly scratching into the glass with her finger, hitting what 9 assumes was send, and returned to her grabbing motions.

    9 handed her the cookie pack with a mouthed thank you.

    Tetra looked pleased as she meticulously found the tear seam and opened the package perfectly even, taking the cookie out and going in for a bite, before there was a rush of air from behind 9. She was still, mouth hovering over the cookie and looking past 9.

    "So, you did your little cookie fetch-quest on a complete stranger again, Letetra?"

    Ankita was heard behind 9, walking past her to stare down at her daughter with a pointed stylus with a crimson vial in it.

    "No, there weren't any cookies this time," Tetra said, pulling the sweet away from her mouth.

    "Oh, were there not, I'm not just smelling chocolate," Ankita said, quickly drawing a rune in the air of hanging blood until it swirled around her eyes before dissipating, "Oh. No. I can see it. Tetra, how many times have I told you that it's rude to ask people to get you things! How many of those have you eaten tonight? Did you even have any real food?"

    "Yeah! I had dinner earlier! You said I could have cookies after dinner!" Tetra was shouting back at her mother, indignantly pushing one into her mouth, causing her following words to be garbled.

    "Hey! You need to say sorry to 9 first," Ankita said, crossing her arms, "Or I will eat the cookies we already have."

    Tetra looked around in contemplation and sighed, finishing chewing before looking at 9 and quietly mumbling her apology.

    "Satisfactory," 9 said, smirking.

    Ankita sighed, patting Tetra on the head and walking her back over to the far side of the room, whispering something about leaving crumbs outside and making the custodian's job a little harder until they got to a door that they went through. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually split from 6 for tone reasons.

    Ankita emerged shortly after, approaching 9 and sighing.

    "Sorry about that. She does this to everyone and it's so exhausting," Ankita groaned, shoulders slumping.

    "You can just... teleport around like that, huh," 9 dodged around the apology.

    "Yes, I don't really do it a lot. Since it's so obvious. Anyway, I think I need to walk back to the cafe. We can talk on the way there if you want," Ankita said, already walking to the stairs.

    "Why do we need to go there--"

    "I forgot my cane. Yes, I had to come back that quickly I forgot it," She interrupted.

    9 nodded, taking the lead down the stairs. Ankita waved her stylus about once more around her eyes and grabbed 9's arm as they walked. She answered the question before 9 could ask-- the stylus was her casting apparatus. Yes, she needed to be blind for the walk in so things didn't seem too strange.

    9 didn't ask why the walk back was different this time. She embraced the fact that she was being clung to willingly, then proceeded to mentally slap herself.

   Was she an idiot? She's a corpse who thirsts for blood and probably has a short life line, even if Ankita didn't really read her palm. She would take this gesture as simply trust from the woman who has done nothing but help her. Yes, that must be it. 9's breath wasn't getting deeper as a passive way to smell the faint perfume and coffee that was wafting off of Ankita, or the slight vibration that was sent through her from the pulse against her arm.

    "...We're here. Do you want me to walk in with you or wait out here?" 9 asked, squeezing Ankita's arm without much thought.

    "Yes, come in with me. I don't know who's watching around here," Ankita said, pulling her toward the door, "Could you get that for me?"

    9 wrestled herself free and went to the door to let Ankita in. She stood by her side as she went to the counter, asking the same barista that had been there the first night they had talked. They stated that they didn't find a cane in the rest room, which pulled a few choice curses out of Ankita. She put a hand on 9 once more and they departed outside once more.

    "Honestly, who the fuck just takes a probing cane with them? Not me, apparently!" Ankita yelled, gripping 9's arm.

    "I'm sorry, this wouldn't have happened if I just went to look for you like I normally would," 9 said.

    "I'll... I'll manage," Ankita sighed a breath close enough that 9 could feel its warmth, "Let's just get back to the library."

    9 trembled, neglecting her hunger for long enough that her mind had drifted to the pulse she could feel clung to her. They walked in mostly silence, as Ankita tried to say something a few times but received no response from 9. Eventually, they stopped on Ankita's mark, facing 9.

    "You're distracted by something," Ankita said.

    "Yes, I am. Sort of," 9 said, wavering.

    "Just, say what it is," She said, getting closer.

    "I can feel your pulse and I haven't fed in a couple days. There, let's get going," 9 said.

    "...You know what. Get it out of your system," Ankita spoke while pulling 9 closer to the building they were near, "I don't hear anyone nearby and maybe this will cement this as an experience you'll probably hate."

    "I don't... understand why I would," 9 said, feeling herself shake at seeing Ankita so close and willingly exposing her neck without any tricks on 9's part.

    "It's different. And I know you haven't stopped thinking about this since we met," she said, reaching up and pulling 9 closer by her shoulder.

    9, once getting closer, could hear the blood moving under her, radiating heat that she craved. She lurched forward, baring her fangs and scraping them across Ankita's neck, eliciting a twitch from her and sucking down the blood that surfaced. Only then, 9's senses were positively betrayed as what flowed down her throat wasn't warm in the least. It was colder than anything she had ever drank in her life, and she felt the world swim around her, pulling back from the neck, caught by Ankita as she fell back. 9 felt like she had to gasp for air at the bottom of the ocean, vision blurring as she did. She saw literal stars, and strange shapes clouding her vision beyond that. It was brief, and then over. Ankita's voice was quiet and drowned out by whatever that was that entered her. 

    She felt herself slump against the wall, pushed there, 9 thought. It took what felt like forever for her senses to come back. She wiped her mouth and looked down at the stain it left on her arm, like whiteout was smeared across it. 

    "What... the fuck," 9 mumbled, "Just happened..."

    "Shit, I didn't know. Are you okay? I feel like I've been asking that for the better part of the ten minutes we've been here. I feel like I'm fucking this night up and we didn't even get around to talking about the Riley problem," Ankita went on, now being the rambling one.

    "No I... I think I'm fine. As long as I can talk and move, I should be fine, right?" 9 said, shifting herself up. 

    "Yes, I think so. Let's just-- I'll just get you to the clinic so you can at least get some real shit," Ankita said, offering her hand to 9.

    9 gulped and took her hand to be pulled up. Ankita took the lead, self evident that she's "put her eyes on", seeming careful to not move too quickly. 

    9 took a deep breath.

    "I think there's been some miscommunication, Ankita. I... I mean, even with myself, I think I'm just confused," 9 slurred out. 

    "It's alright, we'll be there soon," Ankita muttered. 

    "No, I just want you to understand it wasn't about me wanting to drink your blood," 9 continued, "You. It was just that we spent time together and it was something else."

    "Then," Ankita stopped, "What is it you really wanted?" 

    "Something like this." 9 draped her arms over her and pulled her into a hug. It was a slow pull in, and a slow release, if it weren't for Ankita returning the embrace. They slowly let go of each other once Ankita slackened her hold, pulling back with a weak smile. 


	8. Chapter 8

    The oppressive glow of the fluorescent lights bathed 9 and Ankita as they walked in to the clinic together. 

    "Hello, Miss Prahan and her companion," an east Asian woman said with a soft Russian accent. She wore pink scrubs and her hair in twin braids, framing her much more calm and welcoming face. 

    "I see the doctor isn't here right now," 9 sighed in relief, "9, pleased to meet you."

    "As am I to meet you. I am Maern. Dr. Lavenda has talked about you before. Are you both here for your blood pickup?" Maern asked, keeping her voice level and pleasant.

    "We are, yes. I'll pick up the tab for both of us," Ankita said, pulling her wallet out.

    9 gave a look of protest, to which was met with Ankita's whites darting back at her. She looked away.

    Maern simply nodded as she disappeared to the back room, sounds of typing heard from beyond the door.

    "So, is this your way of buying me a drink?" 9 smirked. 

    "You're getting too comfortable and bold with me," Ankita said, corner of her mouth twitching, "I told you it's an apology." 

    "Hey, I saw that," 9 said, nudging her, "You smiled."

    "I did-- no such thing!" she exclaimed, bumping into 9 and keeping her head faced away.

    "You sound like you're trying not to laugh!" 9 shouted, laughing as she did, bumping back into Ankita.

    "Impossible. I don't ever laugh," she said with a light chuckle, "Dr. Lavenda would kick us out for acting like this."    

    They had not heard the creak of the door, and not seen Maern standing there smiling patiently with a pair of bags in her hand. Eventually, they did hear the light cough.

    "Misses, your blood," Maern said softly.

    The two of them took a moment to compose themselves, 9 deciding she would just bare her shame and take her blood. Ankita straightened her sunglasses and paid before taking hers, sliding it out of sight. 

    Maern stood there and bid them a good night as they retreated into the side room where 9 would usually go to feed. 

    They sat across from each other, 9 going through her usual motions of pouring the blood into the cup. They sat there as she drank for a moment before clearing her throat.

    "So, Riley has been looking for me, huh," 9 said.

    "As it seems, yes. I don't know why. Do you have any clue as to why?" Ankita asked.

    "I think it's so he can show he didn't kill me. I think it's worse that I ended up like this," she said, taking another sip, "Prick."

    "If you did go back to show that you're, well, not really fine, what would happen? I know I've been cagey when it comes to telling you about myself, but I'll come clean about it if you let me try to help you," Ankita said, running her fingers through her hair, furrowing her brow.

    "They... They would want me back. But it's some weird shit, like they're still running some weird commune cult and think they have ownership. I don't know how Riley could be out here calling shots on anything but he's kind of reckless like that..." 9 trailed off, fingers tapping the cup, "Unless he's in charge now."

    "So, he could want you back for power purposes," Ankita frowned, "Things sound unstable." 

    "God, even if I could be offered something that wasn't being the gardener again, I wouldn't want to live in their little micro culture. It's awful and I'd rather just move into a different part of the woods," 9 said, drinking the rest of her blood and pushing the cup into the waste bin.

    "Well, at least I'd find a way to you. Secrets kept here," Ankita said, "Now, you can actually ask me any question you want--" 

    "No, sir, that is confidential information."

    "I know you had to have seen them. Where are they, little apple?"

    9 looked as if she'd seen a ghost, head immediately turned to the door. She knew Riley's voice anywhere and it was certainly here. 

    "Get against the wall. I'm going to see what's going on out there," Ankita said, pushing back from the table and going toward the door. 

    9 was obedient and stood flush against the wall by the door, listening in. 

    "Riley. Funny seeing you here," said Ankita, opening the door and leaving it ajar. 

    "Hey there, Keet, little bird, where's 9? Nurse, put the fuckin' phone down, we're just having a conversation!" 

    "You didn't pay me to tell you that. I declined," she said with growing annoyance, "So stop harassing the clinic staff."

    "Oh yeah? How about I give you an advance with something you lost," Riley said, and heard a clatter, and a sickening splatter, followed by a thump.

    9 could see the white blood splattered through the door. If her heart could still beat, it would race, but all of her was held still against the wall.

    "Fuck off, you know I'll just be back to get you, asshole," Ankita grunted, lower than 9 had heard her before, breath cut short by crunch.

    "Yeah, well, not like you'd know where to find me. You'd better start telling me where she is soon or I'm gonna do worse," Riley said, "You can keep your cane. Could at least say thank you for it." 

    9 could hear him walk away, his heels clattering against the tiles as he left the lobby. She finally managed to pull herself away from the wall to find only the cane, collapsed and folded over itself in a puddle of the porcelain blood. She felt tears prick at her eyes kneeling down to pick up the cane and looking up at Maern.

    "Where is she? Where is she?!" 9 shouted at her.

    "9, Miss, please stay calm. I assure you, she meant what she said. I had gone to message someone about this incident, and she has vanished," Maern said, somehow still keeping calm during all of this.

    "God, is it always this fucked up in here?" 9 sniffled, rubbing the red tears from her eyes, "So that's it, she gets stabbed and disappears?" 

    "I--"

    "That! Was fucking rhetorical. I'm sorry, this is all fucked up and it's because I was around..." 9 trailed off.

    "I recommend, Miss, that you find somewhere safe. This clinic is not a shelter, but might I suggest the library? It is neutral and harm should not come to you or Miss Prahan when she returns," Maern said, coming from behind the counter to put a hand on 9's shoulder, "Before dawn, if you can."

    9 took a deep, shaky breath, nodding. She took a look at the cane, seeing the blood fade from it like a gas escaping from between her fingers. She bid Maern a good night as she took to the street, not caring if anyone saw her moving at breakneck speed to the library. She went to the top floor and saw the door was open to where Tetra had been taken, finding the inside of it to be a converted office-into-living-space with no one inside. She shuffled in, finding the couch and falling onto it.

    She wasn't letting the cane out of her hand for as long as she could. 


End file.
